JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 With a simple online search, you can find dozens of videos of people confronting alleged child sexual predators. Garrett Gross makes those videos, and he says he is not stopping anytime soon.<\/p>\n
Gross, a former MMA fighter, runs what some call a video vigilante group called Operation 17:2 \u2014 named after the Bible verse Luke 17:2: \u201cIt would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and thrown into the depths of the sea than for him to cause a little child to stumble.\u201d<\/p>\n
How the operation works<\/p>\n
Gross uses decoys who create social media profiles and manipulate their image on Face App to look like a teenager. <\/p>\n
The decoy sets up a profile on a dating app and waits for an adult to initiate contact. Once contact is made, the two will move to a texting app. Gross says that\u2019s when the decoy will disclose they are 14 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t solicit anything. We don\u2019t initiate any conversation. They message, and we respond,\u201d Gross said.<\/p>\n
Garrett Gross, a former MMA fighter, runs what some call a video vigilante group called Operation 17:2 that confronts alleged child sexual predators. (Ciara Earrey\/News4JAX)<\/p>\n
Gross says some adults will turn down contact once the decoy discloses they are a minor, but most don\u2019t. The decoy will then suggest an in-person meetup. Instead of a teenager, the suspect encounters Gross.<\/p>\n
That is what happened to Caleb Roberts, 26, in March. Gross traveled from his home base in Illinois to Palatka to confront Roberts on camera after Gross says Roberts messaged one of his decoys. <\/p>\n
Roberts was a former youth pastor at the time of the confrontation. His father was the pastor of Victory Church in Palatka. Shortly after the video was released, his father stepped down from that role.<\/p>\n
Roberts now faces four felony counts, including traveling to meet a minor and soliciting a child or a person believed to be a child. He is out on a $10,000 bond. His next court hearing is Sept. 10.<\/p>\n
Law enforcement pushback<\/p>\n
Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office Director Edwin Cayenne says he understands the intent behind these operations, but he warns they create real obstacles for investigators.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we have to do is something called build probable cause to be able to present that to a state attorney,\u201d Cayenne said. \u201cWhat they don\u2019t work within, a lot of times, is state law. We put guardrails in place, policy and procedures for our specially trained investigators to do the job so that when we apprehend these individuals, we can send them to prison.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cayenne\u2019s position: Notify law enforcement and let trained investigators handle it.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office Director Edwin Cayenne says he understands the intent behind operations to catch potential predators, but he warns they create real obstacles for investigators. (Ciara Earrey\/News4JAX)<\/p>\n
Those concerns played out publicly in Jacksonville last year. Video vigilante Alex Rosen confronted David Binz, a previously convicted sex offender, on camera.<\/p>\n
Officers with JSO were criticized for not arresting Binz on the spot. The next day, after conducting their own investigation, officers arrested Binz. He later pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to comply with sexual offender requirements and was sentenced to seven years in prison.<\/p>\n
The money question<\/p>\n
Cayenne also suggested many video vigilantes are motivated by fame and money. Gross does not deny making money from the videos, but says it is not why he does it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI make some money from Facebook. Not a lot. A couple grand,\u201d Gross said. \u201cI would do it if I made nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gross acknowledged some in the vigilante community cross lines he will not.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s guys that I know that do it for the wrong reasons. Their confrontation is slapping guys and things like that. And they get way more views than I do,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t agree with their method and how they do things, but they\u2019re catching people. So they\u2019re preventing some kid….that could have been a real person.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for why he keeps going, Gross puts it plainly: \u201cI don\u2019t think that our kids are protected enough. People talk, and they want these things stopped, but they don\u2019t do anything about it. I think I\u2019m just built for jobs like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The exact number of vigilante groups operating across the country is not tracked in any central database. Previous reporting suggests there may be more than 150 such groups active online.<\/p>\n
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